Am I A Good Candidate For An Abdominal Panniculectomy?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have attached some pictures of my stomach pannus. Please let me know if I would be a good candidate for an abdominal panniculectomy. It is the most troubled part of my body. I have backaches and some times irritation underneath due to my jeans. I wear a size16 in pants but that is underneath my pannus. If I got pants to go over my pannus they would not fit my legs and hips properly. I hate this stomach!! 🙁

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. I do believe you are a good candidate now for an abdominal panniculectomy. The size of overhang of your pannus is significant and much functional improvement would come from its removal. You are not going to have a flat stomach from the procedure, however, and of this you should be aware. It will still be round due to the amount of intra-abdominal fat but there will be no overhang. In preparation for an abdominal panniculectomy, hopefully in the near future, I would still continue to make efforts to lose weight no matter how slight it may be. That will only enable as much stomach tissue to be removed as possible.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana